Knowledge, not speculation, key to North Korea, expert says

NEW YORK (Kyodo) North Korea does not need to be considered unpredictable or evil as long as we exercise our knowledge and avoid speculation, according to Hazel Smith, a social scientist who has traveled extensively in the country since the 1990s and witnessed the worst of the famine crisis.

A professor of international relations at the University of Warwick in England, Smith recently visited the Korea Society in New York to talk about her latest book, "Hungry for Peace: International Security, Humanitarian Assistance, and Social Change in North Korea."

The book draws on her extensive firsthand knowledge of the isolated country gained through her capacity as a consultant and program adviser to the World Food Program, UNICEF, the U.N. Development Program and the Caritas International aid organization.